# Which is your preferred browser? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2010, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463 "2010-06-25T07:47:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/41 "2010-06-27T09:42:42Z")
I use Firefox but it crashes all the time on me (worse it freezes on the netpad). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/42 "2010-06-27T10:02:09Z")
I switched to Chrome probably around 2 years ago, when FF became too slow to boot and operate. There are so many incremental improvements within Chrome that you don’t notice at first, mainly around lightning-fast speed (e.g. when I hit CTRL-F, I get to search the page within a millisecond; when I hit “new tab” it’s there instantly - other browsers have a 1/2 - 2 second delay into both operations), that when I have to go back to another browser I get pissed off within minutes. These things make up for Chrome’s occasional crashes, which are usually connected to plugins. The “restore” button following a crash is also very useful. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/43 "2010-06-27T20:23:45Z")
I use Firefox and Chrome at the same time. Each does different things better than the other, although I expect Chrome to overtake Firefox completely in a year or two. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/44 "2010-06-27T21:06:16Z")
Firefox. But I haven’t tried most of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/45 "2010-06-27T23:36:57Z")
I just played around in my Chrome, adding some things like ad blockers and such. It does seem just the teeniest bit faster than Firefox for me. I’m surprised to hear about FF crashing. I haven’t ever had a problem with it and I spend most days poking around the internet. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/46 "2010-06-28T00:43:29Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Just as a side hijack, this thread is the best example I’ve ever seen of why you can’t trust self-selected polling: Note that the [real world](http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/11/october-2009-browser-stats-firefox-finally-passes-ie6.ars) numbers don’t look anything like the poll here. Part of that might be due to businesses. I know at the school where I teach, IE is the default browser and they don’t allow you to download any other. However, almost every teacher and student I have spoken with uses Firefox (or Safari if they have a Mac) at home. Same at the law firm where I used to work; they only allowed employees to use IE. To get Firefox, I had to get special approval from the attorneys and go through their IT department (I needed Firefox in addition to IE for web design testing). I used to love Firefox more in the past when it was quick and zippy…now it is a bit clunky and slow, so my love has waned - but still use it because, well - like a pair of old shoes, I guess I am just comfortable with it. Still - I might someday get a quickie divorce from Firefox, should a hot, sleek, sexy browser suddenly show up on my computer doorstep… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/47 "2010-06-28T01:00:16Z")
…and after a few years the hot, sleek, sexy browser will itself turn a bit clunky and slow though comfortable. A lot of that has to do with how as time progresses, more things come up to be handled through the Net that may not even have existed when Browser X first burst on the scene, or something that was assumed to be “standard” no longer is (or never was to begin with), malwares begin figuring out the exploits, and users expect back-compatibility of later versions with older ones. Browser X gradually becomes burdened with plug-ins, widgets, emulations, etc., and it can only be optimized so far. …and yes, the IT department demanding that you use only what they approve of _ **does** _ distort the stats vs. what would people use if it were their money at stake. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/48 "2010-06-28T01:06:07Z")
Chrome, 'cos it’s nice and fast. ---
**Author:** ![eno801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@eno801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eno801)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/49 "2010-06-28T16:31:38Z")
By slow for me at least is the few times I have to use dial-up. sites load up quicker than any other browser. Not too much difference with broadband,but still faster loading. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/50 "2010-06-28T16:43:09Z")
Chrome since it was released, it was love at first sight, Firefox at work. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/51 "2010-06-28T16:46:47Z")
I use Chrome, but I didn’t vote. I don’t really have a good reason for why I use Chrome instead of Firefox, which I also like fine. Chrome seems less likely to remember my tabs if everything crashes than Firefox, which is annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/52 "2010-06-28T21:57:09Z")
I’ve been using Chrome since pretty much the second it went live, and I lurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrve it. I cry every time I come to work and am stuck on IE. > [@TimeWinder](#): > > Just as a side hijack, this thread is the best example I’ve ever seen of why you can’t trust self-selected polling: Note that the [real world](http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/11/october-2009-browser-stats-firefox-finally-passes-ie6.ars) numbers don’t look anything like the poll here. 1.) That appears to be data on useage, not on preferred browsers. As has been observed, plenty of people are forced to use browsers they don’t like (e.g., at work, or at a public terminal). 2.) “What everybody in the world likes” will not necessarily equate to “what I will like.” The self-selected respondants to a question like this on a board like this will probably give a response that’s closer to what someone asking this question on this board will actually find useful. > [@Kyla](#): > > Chrome seems less likely to remember my tabs if everything crashes than Firefox, which is annoying. Interesting. I crash at home not-infrequently due to a problem I’ve gotten sick of trying to completely fix (it would probably involve replacing my motherboard entirely), and I’ve never gotten back and not had whatever tabs I’d had open at the moment of the crash ready to be restored. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463/53 "2010-06-29T00:15:11Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Interesting. I crash at home not-infrequently due to a problem I’ve gotten sick of trying to completely fix (it would probably involve replacing my motherboard entirely), and I’ve never gotten back and not had whatever tabs I’d had open at the moment of the crash ready to be restored. I think it’s getting better. I don’t know, I’ve lost my tabs after a crash more than once. It is super irritating when that happens, but it hasn’t happened recently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-your-preferred-browser/544463.md?page=2)